Someday
by Birdyyy
Summary: Hestia was the first and the last Olympian. Always labeled as the peace-keeping deity, she's always stood back and let others take the glory. And that's because she's always believed that there are things more important than glory. Much more important.


**Author's Notes: Virtually no one ever writes about Hestia. And Po Tah Toe gave me a prompt which was basically, "Write about Hestia." So I did. I started it a long time ago, and only made a few major changes a few days ago. Reviews make me smile. (: So please review. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

The minstrels wrote songs about Hestia, the virgin goddess, about how she was the peacekeeping deity, the one who gave up her throne just to keep everything right, to keep everything in order. She was the one who was like the hearth she tended to-calm, never faltering, yet fierce; she strongly defended what she believed in. And after she had given up her throne, they no longer listened to her, as she wasn't an Olympian anymore, and wars broke out more and more often. She felt useless, as she couldn't convince any of the gods to stop the wars.

They always say that peace was the only thing Hestia cares about, they say that she doesn't care about anything else, as long as peace is always there. But it isn't true. She also cares about one more thing.

She wonders why no one ever realized how much the virgin goddess cared about the lives of the demigod children of the gods. She didn't have any half-blood children. She never planned, or even wanted to. But it had opened her eyes to helping all of them, to understand them all. So she stayed at Camp Half-Blood, sometimes for weeks, or a day, and occasionally months, always tending to the fire in the middle of the arrangement of cabins.

The hearth is a place for family. A place where everyone around it is touched by it's warmth, it's roaring flames. It's the place where everyone feels at home, and is relaxed. And that's why Hestia goes to the camp so often. That's why she just sits by the hearth in the camp, and patiently waits, for a camper who needs to know that sense of belonging.

Luke Castellan was one of those campers, he had needed some reassuring after watching his best friend being turned into a pine tree. She remembers him from before his first quest, before the dragon gave him that scar which marred his face. She recalls how he sometimes asked her about the gods and the titans, about who deserved the power more. She knew that he had an important role in the Great Prophecy, but she never said anything. She worries about him, she can see that he'll be important in the future. She remembers the time when he got his first quest. She remembers how he was so happy and excited before the quest, and when he comes back, his scar is an angry red, standing out against his pale face. She feels sadness, but and a slight feeling of pity, for the rage-filled son of Hermes.

Another demigod who had sat by the fire with her had a feeling of angry resentment that followed him wherever he went. She had described him as damaged, as he was always wary, always cautious, always looking over his shoulder as though he had had some experience that had made him so. He never spoke a word, and Hestia never did Either. They sat in silence all the time, and one fine autumn day, when the leaves had just turned a beautiful shade of amber-gold, he turned up with an eye patch. And she felt the shift in his emotions, and she was the only who had felt it when the a small part of the resentment had turned into ambition and pride.

Hestia remembers the young daughter of Athena who had been badly shaken after seeing one of her 'family' be turned into a pine tree. She had sat by the fire, trying to warm herself after being sprayed by rain outside the camp borders, gloomily staring into the dancing flames. A small whimper of disbelief would escape from the young girl's trembling lips every now and then. She could hear her heartbeat, thumping in the silence. Shivering, the little girl turned toward Hestia, staring at her and asked, "Do you ever think I'll see her again?" Hestia watches her, and says, "Even if she can't talk back to you, she'll understand what you say, when you talk to her." And the grey-eyed girl looks at her, and for the first time that day, her heart returns to a calmer pace, and she feels a little bit peaceful.

The goddess also remembers one of the heroes of the second war, even if he hadn't spoken to her the day he arrived at camp. But she had felt his green-eyed gaze on her back, while she tended to the flames, trying to encourage the flames to rise higher. She had seen him awkward clutching the minotaur horn as he was being led around camp. After he turned away, she turns to watch him. She knows that he really doesn't need the comfort, the feeling of home and belonging she can provide. She knows that he'll be special, that he'll be important. She knows.

Thalia Grace was another one of the campers who had sat with Hestia. She recalls how unstable she had seemed, how she had awkwardly made her way to sit by the fire with Hestia. The daughter of Zeus had seemed so confused and bewildered, her roughly cut hair dangling in front of her tear-streaked face. They sit together by the flickering flames in silence, her breathing fast and irregular, while Hestia's was slower, deeper. She watches the flames with her blue eyes, and takes a deep breath. Then she tilts her head back slightly, and her hair parts around her face, allowing the goddess to catch a glimpse of her once proud and fierce, but now sad and teary eyes. The daughter of Zeus gazes into the comforting red eyes of Hestia. She remembers how her icy blue gaze had slid up her face, and the girl stared into her companion's eyes, asking a silent question. "Why did he have to go?"

The dark haired son of Hades was another one of the campers that she remembers the best. He had just arrived at camp, crumpled on the inside that he had lost his sister to the Hunters, but still eager and excited about his new life, hoping that he would make a few friends here, as he was with others that were just like him. Sitting besides Hestia, his mop of black hair falling into his dark eyes, he asked, "Why did she leave me?" Hestia watches him and tells him, "You'll find the answer yourself. But just remember that she still loves you." They had spoken all the time, and it was mostly about how it was like to have one's life so suddenly and dramatically changed. And they both knew very well what it was like.

The campers know that she'll be there, always there, just in case they need to talk about anything. Anything at all.

It makes her feels o useful… So loved. So appreciated. It makes her feel like she's making a difference, and she loves the campers dearly for this. She feels as though she's their mother, their guardian.

They've always said that she's been a minor deity ever since she gave up her throne. She challenges to see the role that she played in the second war.

She's not _just_ a minor deity.

She doesn't _just_ care about peace.

She knows that the half-bloods she's talked to know that.

And she hopes that someday, everyone else will realize that.

Someday.


End file.
